[Economics] The Economics of Mental Health

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Alice Kassens is a respected and tenured professor of economics at Roanoke College, so what in the world is she doing co-authoring “Mental Health Crisis during the COVID-19 Pandemic” for the Century Foundation?

Simple, she says. “A lot [of the crisis] is tied to the economic impact from Covid. The poor are more likely to lose their jobs or hours at work. Combine that devastating economic impact with the isolation [caused by the] pandemic.” It is especially evident with young adults, she says. “When you are young, the world is a scary place. Going through it myself in my 40s was scary enough.”

 

So, the study (working with professionals from the Century Foundation and Rutgers University) came about. It was based upon Census data involving two million Americans. The study concluded that moderate to severe anxiety increased by six times in Americans in 2020 and levels of depression increased similarly.

It also revealed greater impacts on young adults, ethnic minorities and those experiencing poverty. That's where Kassens' economics took over: the impact on young adults might affect them for their entire working life and could result in productivity for decades to come.

 

It's being called a “mental health crisis” because of the numbers, says Kassens. “We've had growing mental health issues among very young adults for a while, but the increase we saw during the pandemic was a 35% average from April 2020 to March 2021 suffering some symptoms.

“When I saw the average of 35%, I had to run it over and over. The 2019 number was 6.1%. It was astounding to see that in a short time.” Kassens says she has “worked on mental health and economics before [and] thought census data was good place to dig deeper to see what’s going on.”

 

Some conclusions were almost evident immediately, she says. “When we looked at what the results were telling us, we [concluded] that nobody was left untouched. Everybody saw a dramatic increase: young adults get lots of attention, but also the poor, ethnic racial minorities. Some suffered more.

“A lot is tied to the economic impact from Covid. Combine that devastating economic impact with isolation in pandemic.”

 

All she had to do was look around the campus to see telling signs. “Look at students’ faces, they’re tired and stressed.” Teachers, administrators and staff have “aged in such a short amount of time. We want word to get out because people are so worn out by this. [It] can be a very dark hole you find yourself in. Economically, if people are depressed and anxious, they won't do as well. It can set you back if you are in school. If you're in the working world, you lose productivity, don't get promotions.”

 

It all came to a head with the possibility of a study, says Kassens. “It got me thinking, ‘Boy, what a great time to study this.’ Looking at students and the people around you, you can tell things are weighing on each other.”

The study concludes that while the Federal government has made some commitments, they are not enough and that mental health has long been overlooked. The study makes recommendations that include diversifying the mental health care workforce and addressing structural racism in mental health care.

 

Kassens and her co-authors conclude, “Against this backdrop of a slow economic recovery, it remains critical that the nation focus on initiatives that address mental health. The pandemic's impact on mental health has spotlighted the challenges that Americans have faced for years, revealing the inadequacies of the nation's health care system to provide much-needed mental health care. What was a serious concern before the pandemic has now transformed into a major public health crisis.”